According to reports from the BBC and The Guardian, Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid is safe. The country will reportedly be cleared tomorrow of corruption claims that involved allegedly bribing officials with over £3 million in exchange for support to host the world's biggest tournament. The 2018 Russia World Cup is also safe from losing their right to host the tournament.
This comes after an 18-month-long investigation conducted by Michael Garcia, who submitted a 430-page report regarding the corruption claims. As everyone knows, the report will NOT be released to the public, but a 40-page summary of Garcia’s report compiled by the FIFA ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert will be published. Here is how The Guardian broke the news:
“The behaviour of several of the bidders involved in the convoluted and ill-conceived dual bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments is expected to be called into question, including Russia, Australia, Qatar and England.”
“Individuals who are no longer involved in football – including Jack Warner, Mohammed bin Hammam and Reynald Temarii – are expected to be criticised but the summary of the report does not at this stage name any other names.”
“Nor is there believed to be a 'smoking gun' that links the behaviour of Mohammed bin Hammam, the Qatari former Asian Football Confederation president who was banned for life for offering bribes to officials during his challenge for the Fifa presidency, with the Qatar 2022 bid.”
So the guy who is already banned for life because he bribed people is in the clear and because he is no longer involved in football, so he doesn’t have to cooperate? Okay that sounds totally clean. The Guardian goes on to say:
“[The] Garcia [investigation] was compromised from the start by the fact that he had no power to seize phone records or email traffic and those corrupt former Fifa officials who are no longer involved in the game could not be compelled to talk.”
“Those involved in the ill-starred England 2018 bid are believed to have co-operated freely with Garcia. As a result England’s bid – which cost £21m and gained just two votes – is likely to be disproportionately criticised for relatively minor infractions.”
So, it turns out, England’s FA could be getting in trouble now? And they aren’t the only ones if you read the rest of the story. Questions will be raised against Australia and Russia for their behavior during the bidding process.
At the end of the day, FIFA’s executive committee is the one making the decisions here. Remember, this is the committee that has members called out by investigators for their conduct during the bidding process. Right now, it seems no one knows if disciplinary action will be placed on any individuals or any footballing associations - but, for our money, this whole thing feels like a farce.
Let's not forget the tournament will likely be moved to the winter months due to the grueling temperatures in Qatar during the standard World Cup months. This move will likely disrupt the schedule of club play around Europe and even the Winter Olympics.
And wait! Did we fail to mention the 4,000 people estimated to die due to horrific human rights abuse among migrant workers to build the stadiums? FIFA, when you're done messing around with this "investigation" that none of us will see, how about you go save the lives of all the Nepalese, Indian and Sri Lankan workers on whose backs the 2022 tournament will be built.
Inquiry Into Qatar World Cup bid win expected to say " no corruption". Some might use the word whitewash but couldn't possibly comment.
— Ian Darke (@IanDarke) November 12, 2014
FIFA: "We looked into it, and it seems Qatar has a lot of money--uhh, didn't do anything wrong. If you'll excuse us, our limo is here."
— Jason Davis (@davisjsn) November 12, 2014
